How to Heal a Hooligan's Spirit
by Kiyosaisei Ichimaru
Summary: Years have passed since the dragons and humans of Berk made their alliance, but it is all but forgotten. With uneasy spirits, prophecy making Dream Dragons, and dragon elders involved, life on Berk is about to become complicated. Book and Movie Universe.
1. Chapter 1

**Bold** is Dragonese.

I hope you like this. I credit the idea of the Hiccup in the movie being Hiccup the First to EmpireOfShadow, although we did think of it around the same time; EmpireOfShadow just typed it up first. Please, enjoy.

How To Train Your Dragon is copyright of Disney and Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell. In other words...

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon**

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"_This is Berk. It snows nine months of the year and hails the other three. The food that grows here is tough, and tasteless. The people who grow here are even more so. The only upsides, are the pets. While other places have ponies, or parrots… We have Dragons!" -Hiccup, How to Train Your Dragon (2010)_

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The first time, it was an act of madness. The second time, it was just downright stupid. Out in the snow of Madman's Gully, right next to the walls of Wild Dragon Cliff, stood ten trainees of the Hairy Hooligan tribe. Only two years before the very same boys had climbed the cliffs and chosen their first hunting dragon. Now, older and almost full members of the tribe, the boys were to chose their second hunting dragon. Because all great Viking Heroes had two hunting dragons, as recently declared by Stoick the Vast, Terror of the Seas, Highest Chieftain of the Tribe of the Hairy Hooligans, O Hear his Name and Tremble, Ugh, Ugh!

This time Gobber the Belch did not bother to lecture them, instead stating only that Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third was in charge, and that they would all be on limpet rations for a month if anything like what happened the previous time were to happen again. Then, as soon as Gobber and the Driver Dragons were out of sight, Snotface Snotlout took charge and ordered them up the cliff face, before once more sending in Hiccup first.

The dragon nursery was just as full as it was the previous time, and all of the boys were heading for the piles of dragons. Snotlout made a point of grabbing a Deadly Nadder from a pile almost identical to the pile Fishlegs had tried to take a dragon from two years before. Dogsbreath the Duhbrain and the others all rushed for the Gronkles. Fishlegs took off for the nearest dragon he could find, desperate to avoid what had happened last time and get out of the nursery as quick as possible.

Hiccup found himself looking for Common or Garden Dragons. His own, Toothless, was currently sleeping away like all of the other hunting dragons, and Hiccup was familiar with the breed. It would not be so terrible to have another. They were easier to train than other breeds, and were easy to care for.

However, the Gods had other ideas.

As Hiccup reached for a dragon, carefully setting his basket on the ground, there was a deep rumbling. In seconds, all the dragons were alert, and the boys were all rushing for the exit. All of them were clutching their baskets. Except for Hiccup, who had started running without grabbing a dragon or picking up his basket. The first cries of the young dragons had been worrisome at best.

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"**Cave in! Cave in!"**

The dragons were screeching as they charged through the tunnels, barely noticing the fact there were humans around. Hiccup found that he and the other boys were having to duck and squeeze between the dragons to get anywhere at all. In the confusion, Hiccup barely noticed that he seemed heavier and off balance than he should have been. Then there was fresh air, and the boys were falling as the dragons knocked them right off the cliff. The young Vikings dropped baskets and plunged to the cold water, only to be dragged ashore by the Saber Toothed Driver Dragons and Gobber the Belch moments later. The boys grabbed baskets from the water at random, as only Snotlout had managed to keep a grip on his basket.

Gobber looked enraged.

"NOT AGAIN!" Gobber didn't do noises quieter than shouting, "Who caused it this time?!"

"Actually… Sir…" Hiccup spoke up, knowing he would probably be banished anyway because he did not succeed in grabbing a dragon, "There was a cave in. They didn't notice us at all."

And what Hiccup stated was turning out to be true. The dragons were slowly calming, and were heading back into the caves. Except for five.

These five landed and snorted as they looked over the humans. One of them, an old Monstrous Nightmare, took one sniff of Snotlout and laughed.

"**Would you smell that! He's the one who took my grand-chick! Her mother was worried when she did not return after the hibernation sleep!"** The words sounded like they could have been an accusation, but the tone was laughing, **"He also smells so much like my human of long ago…"**

"**Stop daydreaming. Your boy will never return to you, Fireworm."** The voice came from a rather large and haggard-looking Deadly Nadder, who sniffed and shook it's massive head, **"We formed the alliance centuries ago, yet the humans have forgotten it. Even if this boy had your grand-chick, and even if he smells of your human, he will not have the same bond with his dragon as you once had."**

Hiccup was confused by the words, but watched as the Nadder flew away from the cold. The dragon's tone had been full of regretful loss. Hiccup wondered what exactly this 'alliance' had been. The Nightmare looked over the group, and then turned to follow the other. Two of the remaining dragons, who looked nostalgic but had not spoken, also took to the skies, heading through the upper-left hand cave. The only one left was an enormous black dragon, smaller than the great nightmare had appeared, yet no less majestic. The dragon had also not flown from the cave, instead using his wings to cushion his fall to the water. He was darker than anything Hiccup had seen, with green eyes glowing with knowledge.

He also had only one tail fin, the other being an old and tattered cloth contraption that Hiccup could tell once resembled a Viking flag.

"**Ah… So **_**you**_** are the heir of the Hooligans…"** The black dragon laughed at the sight of Hiccup's mouth dropping open, **"Do not be so shocked, little human. Dragons are terrible gossips, and by the time you get to be my age, you learn a little bit about how to tell what is true and what is false. Good luck on your journey. You will need it."**

The dragon turned to climb back up the cliff face, but instead paused and stared at Hiccup with a critical eye, **"You could heal his spirit… Although I doubt he realizes he needs it."**

With that, the dragon was gone, climbing the walls of the cliff.

Gobber blinked, and then looked at the trainees. He did not know what was being said, but he knew from the looks on Hiccup's face it must have been very important. Still, enough was enough!

"I take it all of you cowardly cuttlefish managed to grab yourselves a dragon?"

There was a nod from everyone except Hiccup, but Gobber ignored it.

"Good! You have until Thor's Day Thursday to train it! DISMISSED!"

All the boys hurried away with Gobber following, except for Hiccup and Fishlegs, until Fishlegs was waved away by Hiccup. The Hope and Heir just wanted to think. He had not grabbed a dragon. Once he reached the village, he would be exiled.

Slowly, Hiccup began his trip home, glad to have shooed away Fishlegs. He really just needed to be alone before his exile. Just himself, and the heavy weight on his back…

Wait.

Hiccup reached back and grasped at what was on his back, suddenly finding himself with an armful of young dragon. It was identical to the ancient one that had spoken to Hiccup, but with out the dull scales and skinny frame and knowing eyes that spoke of age. It was tiny, with bat-like wings that were currently a size too large for it's body, but which already looked stronger than the wings of other fledgling dragons. On it's tail there were four extra fins, and it's head was rimmed by sensitive antennae that no doubt processed sound. And finally, poisonous yellow eyes looked up at Hiccup from a salamander-like face.

"**Gramppa is gone, right?"** The little dragon asked, burying closer to Hiccup in an effort to get warm.

The Viking was shocked, and so he answered in shaky Dragonese, **"Y-yes. If he was the large one who looked like you."**

The small dragon nodded, and closed his eyes, **"Okay… Nap time…"**

"**W-wait!"**

Yellow eyes opened and peered curiously at Hiccup.

"**What kind of dragon are you?"**

The tiny dragon attempted a very human expression of smiling at that moment, revealing gums but no teeth.

"**I'm a Night Fury!"**

Hiccup almost dropped his new dragon then and there. A Night Fury, the dragon of legends which no one ever saw, was curled up in his arms instead of returning to the nest.

Live was going to get a lot more interesting now…


	2. Chapter 2

_Hiccup's dreams were plagued by a maze of stone sticking from the ocean, a thick white fog, ash falling from the sky, and an island that was dominated by smooth black stones and a volcano that strangely resembled Lava Lout Island. Images haunted everywhere he looked on the island. A glance in one direction showed several Vikings staring in horror; a glance in the other showed daunting flames. And then there was a Night Fury when he looked at the ocean, trapped in chains on a ship set ablaze._

_All of the scenes were so familiar, and yet right out of his grasp. And all of them had faded as soon as he saw them, leaving behind only Hiccup, standing on a ledge inside the volcano, staring at three eyes, each the size of a man. The beast the eyes belonged to was enormous, larger than even the Green Death he had faced two years ago. It showed signs of once having been a bright green color itself, but it was now dulled by the ash and soot inside the volcano._

_"Who-who are you?" Hiccup asked, barely noticing that he had not spoken in Dragonese as he usually did when talking to a dragon._

_The dragon seemed to laugh outright at this question, causing the ledge to shake, "Do you not recognize me, Little Supper? You were my downfall twice, after all."_

_"Green Death…" Hiccup breathed in shock, for an instant seeing one large eye the size of three large men instead of the three small eyes. For a moment, he was looking at the dragon he had defeated, not this monster that could not possibly be a dragon, "What do you mean twice?"_

_The Green Death was silent before it answered, the scenery changing so that both were standing on the smooth black stones of the beach, "Indeed, I am the Green Death. As for what I meant by 'twice'… That, Little Supper, you will discover in time."_

_Hiccup was about to question the dragon again, when a loud shout cut him off._

_"What are you doing here, Green Death?!"_

_The one who had shouted was a blond girl, a Viking, carrying a battle axe. She was followed by a whole tribe of angry, glaring Vikings armed with weapons, and several dragons that were all enormous. Some were on fire, others had razor-sharp wings. A few were as small as Toothless and looked almost identical, save for their bright variant in coloring._

_"I am here because I wish to be…" The Green Death glared at the blond girl, "I will have revenge eventually, girl… But now I leave…"_

_The dragon was gone, and Hiccup found himself being stood over by several teens and a man who looked oddly like Alvin the Treacherous and Gobber the Belch combined._

_"Be more careful, Dragon Boy." Muttered the pretty blond with the axe._

_Then, just as the others were about to speak…_

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Hiccup woke up to find himself panting in bed, his worried dragons, Toothless and Ashblast, hovering over him.

It was a dream. The Green Death speaking to him. The strangely familiar visions. The Viking tribe. The girl who had called him 'Dragon Boy'. All so familiar, so routine, but still a dream. They were his imaginary friends from when he was small… smaller. They were a dream.

That was what Hiccup kept telling himself, even as he moved to stand up, and looked down at his leg. For some reason, he had only expected to see one leg. Seeing two felt… wrong. So wrong. And there was guilt mixing with all these feelings, making it difficult to breathe.

"**Are you alright, Hiccup?"** Ashblast, the baby Night Fury that had chosen to follow Hiccup, asked in unmasked concern.

Questions from Ashblast, or even just the general behavior of Ashblast, confused Hiccup greatly. The dragon was compliant on so many levels. In exchange for games of tag or a good scratch or a cod, Ashblast was willing to do almost anything. The result was Toothless working harder as well, not willing to lose to this new 'baby pesky worm' that had stolen Hiccup's attention.

"**I'm fine, Ashblast. And yes, Toothless, I'll get you some fish. Come on."** Hiccup made his way from the room with the two dragons following happily, apparently forgetting the state that their master had been in moments before. The thought cheered Hiccup a bit. He didn't really want his dragons to worry. Especially since they became a little over-protective when they were worried.

However, the visions were persistent, and as soon as the dragons were given food Hiccup sat down next to Old Wrinkly. Old Wrinkly was Hiccup's grandfather on his mother's side, and had picked up soothsaying in his old age. The man wasn't very good at it, but Hiccup still hoped that he would have some answers about the visions.

The old man's response was unsettling.

"That, Hiccup, sounds like the description of a Seadragonous Tyrannous Extrememous. It is a very dangerous dragon. There is only one anyone has met in recorded history. In one of the oldest tribe records, there was mention of a youth from the Haddock line defeating one on what is now Lava Lout Island." The old man peered curiously at Hiccup, "It is very unsettling that you have dreamed of one. I would keep it to yourself, Hiccup."

The young Viking hastily nodded and stood up. Fishlegs was supposed to bring Horrorcow and his new hunting dragon and they were going to go to the beach to train their dragons.

A single glance toward his dragons showed Toothless and Ashblast looking terrified, apparently from the mention of such a terrifying creature. Hiccup smiled lopsidedly at his dragons, **"I'm sure it meant nothing. Come on."**

Toothless and Ashblast looked unsure, but the two followed after Hiccup as he walked out of the house. Then, just as he opened the door, Hiccup walked right into Snotface Snotlout, who had his new Deadly Nadder, named Dreadclaw, and his Monstrous Nightmare, Fireworm, at his sides. The dragons snarled at Hiccup, prompting Ashblast to growl back and Toothless to grumble in Dragonese from his perch on Hiccup's head.

Snotlout, however, was frozen solid for a few moment, staring Hiccup right in his eyes. Finally, the boy drew back and turned to leave, barking for Fireworm and Dreadclaw to follow.

Hiccup and his dragons stared after, confused by the lack of insults, and wondering just why he could have sworn that Snotlout had been searching for something in him.

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**Bold** is Dragonese.

How To Train Your Dragon is copyright of Disney and Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell. In other words...

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon**


	3. Chapter 3

Snotlout had _not_ expected this. The night after he had chosen Dreadclaw, he had started having the most amazing- and fearsome- dreams. He would wake from them in a cold sweat, with even Fireworm hovering over him looking mildly worried. They were filled with visions of dragons attacking, and a single boy changing everything. And then, just last night, he had seen that single boy again, older now, falling from the back of a pitch black dragon, eyes fixed brokenly on the dragon's missing tail fin.

All of a sudden, these dreams were not dreams. Snotlout recognized them as memories, and over night he changed. The older, wiser, past Snotlout easily won out over the mind of the present Snotlout, who simply could not stand up to the rush of knowledge on everything from how to slay a dragon single-handedly- an art now lost- to how to maintain your alliance with the dragon that choose you.

That morning he stood up and got dressed, slammed on his helmet, and thought of his cousin. If- when- Hiccup remembered his life as 'Hiccup the Dragon Master, High Chief of the Hairy Hooligans, Changer of Viking Life, Defeater of the Green Death, Hear His Name and Tremble, Ugh, Ugh' things would not be pretty. Snotlout was unsure if he would be forgiven. All of that work by his new life, trying to become Chief when the old Snotlout knew that taking second-seat to Hiccup was a good idea… Well, it was safe to say that if Hiccup never forgave Snotlout, all of his chances at becoming second in command again would be ruined.

So Snotlout left the house with a movement to his step that he had not previously had. Baggybum the Beerbelly even stared in mild shock at what he was looking at. His son was not acting overly arrogant and confident. Instead his face was as serious as it could get, and his confident stride had a backing to it. And the way Snotlout held his axe this morning was now on the level of the best axe-wielding Vikings. Baggybum did not see his son in any of those movements; instead he saw an adult wartime Viking, ready for an attack or a command from his Chief at any moment.

Even at best it was unsettling.

And it was something everyone in the village could agree with as they watched the young Viking head toward the house of the Chief. If it were not for Fireworm and Dreadclaw warily following their human master, they would have sworn that they were not looking at the same Snotlout at all.

However, Snotlout was oblivious to this in the way that most Vikings were. Instead he was sorting through his memories. It seemed that his body was the age it had been when he first joined the fire brigade in his previous life. Although it was perhaps a little less trained. Snotlout wrote that off as having to do with a lack of dragon raids and moved on to his next observation. Hiccup was not a walking disaster- although Snotlout got the feeling that when Hiccup remembered being, well, Hiccup, that the walking disaster would return full force.

Here Snotlout paused, his face filled with what any member of the old Berk would have recognized as horror for what Hiccup would do next. As it was, the Vikings of Berk were simply confused by the sudden uncalled-for horror. The young Viking shuddered and quickly hurried on his way. This Hiccup also did not work in the forge (a real shame to Snotlout, as Hiccup could make better swords- or any other weapon- than anyone else and was so clever and inventive, that the forge wound up being his favorite place next to the skies even when he was Chief) and could actually wield a sword. Snotlout prayed to Odin that Hiccup's skill with the sword would remain, if only to cut down on his danger-to-the-village level even marginally.

Even if his brilliance with dragons would cut down fires and accidents ten-fold when the old Hiccup returned, Hiccup's walking disaster status still would endanger the village more than enough without 'hopeless with all weapons' added to the list.

And now he was right in front of Hiccup's door. He readied himself to knock, but then froze when the door opened and he suddenly was staring Hiccup in the eye. There was no trace of the old Hiccup, aside from what Snotlout could have sworn was the frightened awe only the first Green Death could have induced in Hiccup's eye. Snotlout was oddly disheartened by this, and turned to leave, "Fireworm, Dreadclaw, com'on!"

Snotlout began storming away, his dragons on his heel, when something smacked him in the face. Hiccup had a Night Fury! A baby Night Fury, but a Night Fury nonetheless. Suddenly he felt as though nothing could go wrong. The baby Night Fury had called to his mind the image of the old Night Fury at Wild Dragon Cliff earlier in the winter. And with it a name.

Toothless.

Completely shoving the image of the small Common or Garden Dragon with no teeth that he had un-intentionally named after the old Night Fury for Hiccup, Snotlout began a mad dash, with his two dragons flying as fast as they could after him, toward Wild Dragon Cliff. If nothing else, he could at least see his old Fireworm and the others again.

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Wild Dragon Cliff was, as was standard for the springtime, absolutely covered in dragons of all sizes. Any Viking idiotic enough to get anywhere close would be torn apart.

Unless, of course, they had the proper skill set.

It was lucky for Snotlout that his returned memories had also included 'How to Act Around Wild Dragons'. As it was, his quiet, calm behavior and the lack of a weapon had the dragons crowding the cliff leaving him be. A small reassurance it may have been that the lack of weapon still did wonders, but it was a reassurance it was none-the-less. It didn't matter that both Dreadclaw and Fireworm clearly thought him insaner than normal-Viking-level for being so close to the cliff in the first place.

Especially not when he saw what he was looking for.

Typically, the higher-ranking and older dragons lived either deepest in the nest, or at the top of the nest. In a cave-network like this one, the deepest part of the nest would have the old dragons. So it was very strange that the group of dragons he was looking for were lazily sunning by the water. Well, most of them were sunning. Old Toothless was attempting to catch some fish, and failing. Miserably.

"Oh, Toothless," Snotlout said, catching the immediate attention of the elder dragons, "I brought fish. And I made sure most of it was cod."

The old Night Fury brightened and Snotlout poured the fish out of his basket before grinning up at the old Nightmare in front of him, "So, old friend, still up to flying?"

The younger Fireworm frowned as the old Nightmare said nothing, but instead turned her head toward the sky. Young Fireworm was unsure what to make of this situation. Her master had been acting very strangely ever since he had woken up. He had only given one command, to follow him away from the skinny one's house, and even then had not really ordered so much as requested. And now a dragon elder was willing to fly with him?

Snotlout held up a coil of rope and tied it to either of the old Nightmare's horns after fixing a kind of harness for himself, "Let's go terrify Berk!"

Young Fireworm wasn't sure why everyone laughed at that comment.

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**Bold** is Dragonese.

How To Train Your Dragon is copyright of Disney and Dreamworks and Cressida Cowell. In other words...

**DISCLAIMER: I do not own How To Train Your Dragon**


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